I will start with gameplay because it's by far the most crucial aspect of the game. Somehow, EA managed to give us the BEST FIFA game and then the WORST FIFA game, in consecutive years. FIFA 14 was the first to use the 'next gen' EA engine called "Ignite" which allowed the devs to take the series to unprecedented heights. Among the many improvements were the addition of thousands of new animations, giving the game a wonderful fluidity, and greatly improving ball physics, shooting and passing. The game was simply amazing. Why am I telling you about all of this? because it's GONE. I am not joking. Somehow, all the improvements of last year have disappeared.
Other tweaks come in the form of the matchmaking; there can be stricter settings online in the normal Seasons mode to avoid being matched with teams that are of a much greater quality than the one you choose. This was an issue I’ve had before so I’m glad they’ve finally got round to sorting it. As a side note, in most online matches you can go straight into the next matchmaking search, thus reducing any time wasted for us hardcore footballers. Even after a week of publishing my article on Manager Investing, I still see certain managers, such as Low, go for thousands of coins! Granted, his price has fallen from the 7,500
FIFA 16 coins I sold him for three weeks ago to 4,500 coins. Still, it makes no sense for FUTers to purchase these managers at such prices! I have, however, seen more competition for bargain managers, causing prices to crash for the more expensive managers.
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The changes to FIFA 16 Ultimate Team are equally inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. You still play tournaments and leagues to win coins to buy packs, but there’s a couple of differences. One immediately noticeable change is on player cards, where the ‘HEA’ attribute has been swapped for ‘PHY’. That’s ‘heading’ for ‘physical’, meaning you now get a better quick-glance at the physical state of your player rather than a fairly meaningless summary of his ability to head a ball. It seems that EA has realized that all people really care about in Ultimate Team is how strong and fast a player is, so why fight it? It could be said that EA Sports is emulating Apple where the latest FIFA 16 is concerned. Apple has an "S" year biannually, choosing to modify and adapt the last generation of iPhone rather than reinvent the device. This is EA's "S" year.
I’d love to see this go much further with scouts also providing an indication of a player’s future potential (that is their job after all) but it seems I shall be waiting another year at least for that to come around. For me the Global Transfer Network still has lots of untapped potential, but at least this time there’s actually a reason to use scouting, because you will at the very least get back the key information you need to make better transfer decisions. One of the biggest gripes with managing clubs in the lower leagues in FIFA 16 Career Mode is that if you eventually make the Promised Land and gain promotion to the Premier League, you still only have a League One budget to work with. Due to the commercial revenue that comes with promotion these days that’s just not right, so to try and tackle that, EA have made a few changes.
Ask anyone, ask the guy in the non-rare bronze card: who will be the player on the cover of FIFA 16? Very easy, innit? Messi has been the guy since FIFA 13 and obviously there shouldn't be any changes. The one before him was Rooney, who had been on the cover for 7 years. Regardless of who is the best player in the world, I have the idea that having Ronaldo on the cover of FIFA 16 would be the best move since he's more of the media guy type. But saying this is pointless, Messi will be there wearing the colours of Barcelona with a stadium in black and white on the background. And on FIFA 17 as well.
A final point I want to make here is that defenders are also opening up and swiveling their hips more easily when backpedaling now. Another reason why users go to double teams so often right now is I think because they feel terrified in one-on-one situations. The dribbler has generally had the advantage, but now defenders are staying more square to the play, which allows you to contain and then strike with more confidence. It’s a nuanced change, but it’s something where if you go from playing last year’s game and then go right to FIFA 16 it will immediately stand out.
